Eyes on the road: The Ripple Effect or Other major corridors

Highways, bypasses key in road plans for Northwest Arkansas

More than I-49 needed to link cities, planners say

Tim Conklin, transportation programs manager for the Northwest Arkansas Regional Planning Commission, shows off the many maps on his Springdale office walls Dec. 16. Nearly $350 million of highway projects are in the works in Benton and Washington counties, and another $800 million will be needed over the next 25 years, he said. For more photos, go to www. nwadg.com/photos.
Tim Conklin, transportation programs manager for the Northwest Arkansas Regional Planning Commission, shows off the many maps on his Springdale office walls Dec. 16. Nearly $350 million of highway projects are in the works in Benton and Washington counties, and another $800 million will be needed over the next 25 years, he said. For more photos, go to www. nwadg.com/photos.

Tim Conklin experiences all the road projects in Northwest Arkansas without getting in his car. Maps illustrating work underway or in development paper the walls of his Springdale office at the Northwest Arkansas Regional Planning Commission.

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A view of the construction Dec. 3 for the Bella Vista Bypass near where it will intersect with Interstate 49 and North Walton Boulevard in Bentonville. The work is partially funded by a state sales tax and has an estimated $186 million price tag. For more photos, go to www.nwadg.com/photos.

He doesn't expect to see the tan paint anytime soon.

Nearly $350 million of highway projects are in the works in Benton and Washington counties. Conklin, transportation programs manager for the commission, said another $800 million will be needed over the next 25 years. The long-term cost jumps to $1.4 billion when adjusted for inflation, he said.

"If your children are going to preschool now, a lot of these projects might be done by the time they are driving," he said.

Jeff Hawkins, the commission's director, said the 32 cities in the two-county area need more than one interstate to link them.

"Interstate 49 may be 'Main Street Northwest Arkansas,' but there is no shortage of other No. 1 priorities," he said.

Many projects that have been talked about and planned for years are under construction, including the Bella Vista and U.S. 412 bypasses and the Arkansas 265 corridor. The commission is also studying what it would take to create a western thoroughfare along Arkansas 112.

David Schrank, researcher with the Texas A&M Transportation Institute, said in a perfect world road systems would constantly be upgraded. A efficient traffic system is more than one road, he said.

The institute did a congestion study for the Northwest Arkansas Council in 2012, which recommended the current Interstate 49 improvements and Bella Vista and U.S. 412 bypasses move to the top of the list for funding.

The bypasses will maximize the gains from widening the interstate, said Dick Trammel, chairman of the Highway Commission.

"We need to focus on those highways that will help us take traffic off the interstate in the quickest and cheapest way," Trammel said. "When you see all the orange barrels, remember it will get better."

Arkansas 265

Creating a north-south corridor primarily using Arkansas 265 is piece by piece becoming a reality. Area planners have discussed creating the corridor connecting Arkansas 16 in Fayetteville to U.S. 62 in Rogers since the 1970s. It has been on the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department's and regional planning's master street plan for more than 30 years.

Road improvement started in south Fayetteville and is working its way north. The first section of Arkansas 265, also known as Crossover Road in Fayetteville, was finished in 2003 for $16.1 million and stretched from Huntsville Road to Mission Boulevard.

Chris Brown, Fayetteville city engineer, said the city and state split the $12.6 million cost to widen the road from Mission to Joyce Boulevard. Work was finished in July 2014.

The state paid the entire $14.9 million construction cost from Joyce Boulevard to U.S. 412, or East Robinson Avenue, in Springdale. Workers finished that section earlier this year.

A contract for $15.4 million was awarded earlier this month for the section from Arkansas 264 in Springdale to Pleasant Grove Road in Rogers. It will connect to the north-south First Street in Rogers.

A section between Randall Wobbe and Arkansas 264 in Springdale is in development and will be the next step, Trammel said. The Highway Department expects that section to cost between $15 million and $20 million. The Arkansas 265 corridor will take a minimum of 6,000 to 8,000 cars a day off the interstate, Trammel said.

Long-range plans extend the highway to Hudson Road in northern Rogers, but that could take another 20 years, said Nathan Becknell, Rogers project engineer. The extended state highway will provide another access point to downtown.

"We get a lot of calls about when that project is going to be done," he said.

112 corridor

Regional planners recently received a study they commissioned exploring options to improve Arkansas 112 from Bentonville to Fayetteville. They hope the road becomes a western north-south corridor.

Trammel said he hopes to have the corridor funded and in the mix of projects within three years.

Improvements to a section of the highway between Razorback Road and Garland Avenue on the University of Arkansas campus in Fayetteville is on hold again after bids have been rejected twice over costs.

Fayetteville, the state and the University of Arkansas have partnered in some Arkansas 112 improvements over the years, said Chris Brown, Fayetteville city engineer.

Mike Churchwell, Bentonville transportation director, said the area needs a western byway for additional north-south traffic relief.

"It lends itself to providing a great option," he said for people living west of the interstate.

The study looks at route alternatives and compares costs. Widening the existing highway to four lanes, straightening out some of the curves and implementing some access management techniques, such as a raised median and deceleration lanes, has an estimated cost of $108.8 million to $134 million. Various intersection realignment and Cave Springs bypass options could cost up to $31.2 million more.

Conklin said the 112 study examined safety and capacity needs for the next 2o-25 years. The commission forecasts Northwest Arkansas' population will be around 800,000 by 2040.

"Looking back 20 years, would you expect to add 100,000 people per decade?" he asked.

412 Bypass

Work on the first phase of the U.S. 412 Northern Bypass around Springdale started earlier this year. State sales tax money will pay for the western portion of the project. A new access road to the Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport will connect with this phase.

Area leaders broke ground in Lowell on April 15 for the Highway Department's largest construction contract ever. Work is underway at two locations for the four-lane highway: just south of the West Monroe Avenue I-49 exit in Lowell and near Arkansas 112 near Cave Springs. Construction on this phase is scheduled to be finished in mid-2019.

Trammel said the bypass will help divert traffic from the busy intersection at I-49 and U.S. 412, or Sunset Avenue, in Springdale. The Highway Department reports about 37,000 vehicles a day travel through the intersection.

The western portion will have 14 bridges and two interchanges: a large one at I-49 between Wagon Wheel Road and Monroe Avenue exits and a smaller one at Arkansas 112. Construction will cost $100.6 million and is scheduled to end in mid-2019.

The new road will eventually curve back south and connect to U.S. 412 on the west side of Springdale near Tontitown.

Trammel could not provide a time frame for completion of the eastern half of the bypass to connect to U.S. 412 near Sonora because it has no funding.

Bella Vista Bypass

Construction is underway on a portion of the 14-mile stretch to extend I-49 around Bella Vista. The work is partially funded by a state sales tax and has an estimated $186 million price tag.

A two-mile, two-lane portion between Arkansas 72 North and Benton County 34 near Hiwasse opened earlier this year. A section between Arkansas 72 South and Arkansas 72 North was completed in 2014.

Work is ongoing from the end of I-49 in north Bentonville to the completed section. The interchange and the final 2.5 miles to the Missouri state line are yet to be scheduled. The road will become part of I-49 when completed.

Trammel said the two-lane road will expand to four lanes once Missouri finds funding for its six-mile section to connect the bypass to I-49 in its state.

Frank Miller, planning manager for the Missouri Department of Transportation's Southwest District, said the state has $24.2 million set aside for the project, but a $33.8 million funding gap exists.

Trammel said the Arkansas portion of the bypass, when completed, will take 4,000-6,000 cars daily off U.S. 71 and help keep traffic moving through Bella Vista, particularly during the peak hours.

NW News on 12/28/2015

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